The American Jewish Congress announced today that it had withdrawn its delegation from the General Jewish Council at a meeting of the Council held yesterday at the Hotel Astor.
The action followed presentation of a memorandum setting forth the history of the General Jewish Council in the three years since it was formed by the Congress, the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith and the Jewish Labor Committee. The memorandum charged the Council with “consistent failure to make any progress to achieve the purposes for which it was formed.”
The Congress also charged that the action of the American Jewish Committee and B’nai B’rith on March 19 in reaching an agreement between themselves, without the knowledge or consent of the General Council, for joint fund-raising and coordination of activities, excluding from such an agreement the Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee, was the “culminating event in a whole series resulting in nullification of the purposes of the General Jewish Council.”
The memorandum was presented by Louis Lipsky and the announcement of the withdrawal of the Congress delegation was made by Dr. Stephen S. Wise. The withdrawal followed the defeat, by a vote of 13 to 7, of a motion submitted by Prof. Jerome Michael asking the General Council to dissolve itself.
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